Festivals inject cash into island economy

Friday

May 16, 2008 at 2:00 AM

By Margaret Carroll-Bergman I&M Staff Writer

Nantucket’s wine festival in May and film festival in June are more than cultural events. Over the last 10-plus years, island hotel and restaurant owners count on these events, which bring thousands of people to the island during the otherwise slow shoulder season, to help jump-start business.

“Nantucket is a beautiful destination, especially if you partner it with a great event. It will stimulate the economy,” said Kate Hamilton-Pardee, director of Nantucket Visitor Services. “These are two events with venues inside, although the weather tends to be very gentle.”

Historically, the weeks between Daffodil Weekend in late April and Memorial Day, and from the end of May to the Fourth of July have been sluggish for the island’s hospitality industry. Business levels have grown each year since the Nantucket Film Festival and the Nantucket Wine Festival were launched in the mid- 1990s.

“The festivals generate income during a quieter time and it’s a great thing,” added Hamilton-Pardee. “A lot of the restaurants are partnering with the wine festival to have wine dinners.”

The 12th wine festival started yesterday and runs through Sunday, while the 13th film festival will be held June 19-22.

Last year, about 4,400 tickets were sold to the wine festival.

“It’s hard to translate that number because it was the total tickets sold to all events,” said Denis Toner, founder and president of the Nantucket Wine Festival. “I knew from my experience in the wine trade, that restaurants are open during the weekend before Memorial Day, but it is quiet. It seemed a good time to have the festival.”

Susan Handy, a co-owner of the Chanticleer and an owner of Black-Eyed Susan’s, has an interesting perspective on the festivals’ contribution to the island’s shoulder season as the Chanticleer is a fine French restaurant and Black-Eyed Susan’s is a chic eatery.

“At Black-Eyed Susan’s, its BYOB ( Bring Your Own Bottle). During the Wine Festival, connoisseur want to share wine with their friends and of course, they are looking for breakfast the next day,” said Handy. “During the Film Festival, we see an increase in New Yorkers and other city people, who like to eat breakfast out. The Film Festival is trying to change its schedule this year, so people can go to a film and still get a late dinner.”

While Mother’s Day is the traditional opening day for the Chanticleer, both festivals help move business along during the shoulder season.

“We are open weekends and special events and we’ll be expanding our schedule in June,” said Handy.

“The festivals make the shoulder season popular,” she said. “Many people who own second homes on the island come out earlier in the season to open their houses and go to an event. They created a base to get the festivals going. We see our regular summer customers definitely here for these events.”

The guest houses are also seeing an uptick in business as a result of the late spring and early summer events.

Mitch Carl, who owns the Hawthorne House, is head of the Nantucket Lodging Association and has been operating his guest house for 23 years.

“It used to be six months on and six months off,” said Carl. “And, then it grew to an eight month season and fell back and is once again lengthening.”

The Wine Festival is the first event to sell out rooms at the Hawthorne House. “It books way in advance. Very few island events do that. It is also a function of the Harbor House closing 100 rooms,” said Carl.

The Nantucket Film Festival sold around 8,000 tickets and passes last year, but it is difficult to determine the number of people who attend the events.

“We know through our ticketing system, that people come from all over the country–Texas, Illinois, New Mexico, Connecticut and Massachusetts,” said Jill Burkart, who founded the Film Festival with her brother Jonathan 13 years ago.

“We knew that July and August would be too busy and wanted to operate during a time when Nantucket is still beautiful,” she said. “In the fall we would be competing with film festivals in Woodstock and the Hamptons.”

While many of the Film Festival’s patrons come from off-island, Burkhart said the festival is offering a $50 discount for island residents, many who enjoy taking advantage of the chance to see independent films in a screening room.

“There is a definite economic benefit to the island,” said Burkhart. “Many of the people in the film industry stay in hotels and book parties in restaurants. We also recommend places for people to stay.”

Both the Wine and Film festivals are cultural events.

“They are congruent with what Nantucket has to offer,” said Tracy Bakalar, director of the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce. “Each one is a great asset to the community and to building up the shoulder season. It makes sense that we would have a Wine Festival with 80 places to get food on the island.”

“WIth the Film Festival, people stay overnight and need a place to eat. It encourages return visits to the island,” added Bakalar.

“Starting with the Wine Festival, the timing is great,” said Khaled Hashem, managing director of Nantucket Island Resorts (NIR), the island’s largest landlord, which owns more than 50 percent of the commercial properties located downtown.

Hashem has been with NIR for four years and during his tenure has noticed an increase in business during the shoulder season with the festivals and with NIR’s own promotions, advertising and outreach to travel writers and travel agencies.

“The film festival is also another nice event. Although we can’t show movies, we have hosted some events,” he said. “During the spring, the weather is beautiful and we are working to get people here.”

Clint Waters, a vice president at Nantucket Bank, one of the early sponsors of the Wine Festival, has been tracking bank deposits in the three days following the festival for the last 11 years. This is the Wine Festival’s 12th year.

“I think it’s fair to say that with all the people on the island, it has a positive impact on the local business,” said Waters. “I think the same is true of the Film Festival. We’ve seen both grow and take off.”

Seth and Angela Raynor own the Boarding House Restaurant.

“We love the Wine Festival. It brings a lot of interesting people to the island. It’s great to be the host to people who are in the wine and food industry,” said Seth Raynor. “Food and wine go hand in hand. There is a beautiful marriage between the two.”

“The Film Festival is a month away. It’s too early to tell if the parties we normally book will return,” added Raynor. “The Film Festival keeps the dream alive that the Dreamland will be refurbished as a movie theater. It will be an amazing experience.”

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